Topic: nakamichi cm 300

[deadcreekphish]

Recently just bought Nakamichi cm300 with cp1, 2, and 3 and I'm going to use them with a new rig that  I bought the tascam dr680. Originally they came with a 9 volt battery but now because of phantom power on this unit do I need a battery?

Also - this set is two condensers and a shotgun what is the best position? (x-y) with the shotgun in the middle? Or ?

What capsules should I use... indoor or outdoor?

Thanks!

[DeadGreg]

Do not use the phantom power with the CM300's unless you have a modification. You need the battery to operate them. I have been connecting two 6v batteries together without any problems. These 6v's are commonly used for dog collars apparently; they are easy to find and very affordable; I get mine from Amazon.

For a smaller club that has a ton of talking, I use cards in a 90-degree x-y. I think the common knowledge is to do an ORTF with hypers though. For outside, I definitely use cards unless the distance calls for the shotgun. If you are using three CM300's, I would have the two outside at 110 degrees and the middle straight ahead.

On a related note, do you perhaps have the CP-1 (card), CP-2 (omni), and CP-4 (shotgun)? Since you are talking about the shotgun, I think you have a CP-4. The CP-3 is a somewhat rare for folks with three caps when one is a shotgun.

Best,
Greg

[runonce]

NOS with the card caps is the way to go with this set...play with the others all you like - you'll always come home to NOS...

I wouldn't bother with the shotgun...But since you're running a 680 I guess it can't hurt...

[Gutbucket]

Here's the easy answer to your microphone setup question which automatically adapts your microphone setup to various situations- Point the mics at the PA speakers, figure out what the angle is between them, then space them apart by the distance indicated on the table below.  Use the cardioid capsules if the room sounds good, the audience isn't too obnoxious, and your recording position is decent.  Use the supercardioids if the room sounds bad, the crowd is obnoxious and if farther back in the room.  Try it both ways and figure out when you prefer the cardioids over the supercards or vice-versa.



More on that table and a advanced table with aditional spacing options can be found here- http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=167549.0



If recording outside, try using the omni capsules and space them as far apart as is practical for you to do so (shoot for around 3' to 6' feet apart).  That's often very nice on it's own, but since you have another mic and plenty of extra channels available on the DR680, go ahead and place the third mic between the two omnis, facing directly forward towards the stage.  Use the cardioid or supercardioid capsule for that, or the shotgun if the other capsules are not interchangable on the microphone body the shotgun capsule uses (I'm not super familiar with the Nak capsules and bodies). A cardioid or supercardioid would be my first choice there  though.

Record all three channels.  You can mix them together later on the computer or during play-back from the recorder itself by panning the omnis all the way left and right and panning the center cardioid or supercardioid to the middle.  Adjust the level balance between the omnis and the center mic by ear, listening for what sounds best.  You can even record a 'quick and dirty' stereo mix on the DR-680's stereo channel at the same time as you are making the original 3-channel recording, you just have to guess at the right level for the center microphone channel in the mix.  You can pan and level adjust the three channel mix using the 680's monitor mix section, either while recording or on playback.

That three microphone technique is similar to how these microphones were originally intended to be used, and why they origionally came in sets of three mics  bundled with a 3>2-channel mixer.  Grateful Dead tapers used to commonly use the two shotguns with an omni in the middle from the official taper's section behind the soundboard at large outdoor concerts, which was quite distant from the stage.  They made many good tapes that way, however I dare say they were all doing it wrong.    The 3' to 6' spaced omnis with the supercardioid (or maybe a single shotgun) in the middle facing 'dead-ahead' would have been better!